A number of articles talk about the speed in which the cyber domain in changing. But if the last couple of weeks are any indicator, someone must have stepped on the accelerator. I am not just talking about the cyber threat environment. Two events, unrelated to a specific cyberattack or new threat, took place that have raised eyebrows.
First, a couple of senators are aggressively going after members of the House Armed Services committee to elevate the military's cyber unit to a full-fledged combatant command. That is a really big deal. Such action would clearly indicate the seriousness of the current cyber threatscape and concerns about where cyber conflict is headed.
Second, at the recent NATO summit, defense ministers designated cyberspace as an 'operational domain.' That moves cyber into the same arena as the four previous domain of conflicts: land, sea, air and space. Now add the revival of an old conversation about a severe cyberattack could draw a retaliatory response using conventional weapons and forces and you get a glimpse of how serious this issue has become.
No one would dispute that cyber is now one of the greatest and fastest growing threats to face our nation and NATO. These actions occurring in such close proximity has many wondering what has happened to prompt such moves at this time. After all, the threats emanating from cyberspace have been around for a number of years and these actions could have been initiated at any time during that period. Have the cyberattacks and actual and perceived cyber threats reached a point where we find ourselves at a defining moment? Is this more than just the maturing of cyber within the world's militaries? Given all that has taken place in the last four to six weeks, one has to be concerned.
